Today(on 23rd April),The Calcutta High Court has instructed the West Bengal chief secretary to promptly decide on granting sanction for prosecuting former public servants involved in the 2016 school jobs case.
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KOLKATA: Today(on 23rd April), The Calcutta High Court has issued a directive to the West Bengal chief secretary to expedite the decision on granting sanction for the prosecution of former public servants who were arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the infamous 2016 school jobs case.
The court has set a deadline of May 2 for the chief secretary to make a determination on the matter. Failure to comply with this order may result in appropriate proceedings being initiated against the chief secretary.
In response to the recent cancellation of a massive 25,753 appointments in government-sponsored and -aided schools in West Bengal by another division bench of the high court, the Calcutta High Court’s decision to expedite the prosecution determination for former public officials in the 2016 school jobs case gains heightened significance.
The annulment of these appointments resulted from the high court’s ruling that the recruitment process of the State Level Selection Test (SLST) 2016 conducted by the School Service Commission was invalid. T
It is worth noting that the CBI had applied for the sanction of prosecution against the individuals involved in this case back in 2022. However, the application has remained pending, causing delays in the progress of the legal proceedings. In light of this, the division bench, presided over by Justice Joymalya Bagchi, has instructed the chief secretary to make a prompt decision on the sanction of prosecution of the accused persons, who were arrested two years ago.
“In making the decision, the chief secretary must not be swayed or influenced by the status, authority, or influence of the accused individuals, but rather should independently determine the matter.”
– stated the division bench, which also includes Justice Gaurang Kanth.
The court’s order was issued during the bail hearing of the accused persons, one of whom is Partha Chatterjee, a former education minister of West Bengal. The defense lawyers argued that their clients have been in custody for nearly two years, and the case has been unable to progress due to the absence of sanction for the prosecution of certain public servants at that time. They requested the court to grant bail to their clients due to the significant delay in the proceedings.
During the previous hearing, the CBI informed the court that the governor of West Bengal had already granted sanction to prosecute Partha Chatterjee. However, the court questioned the importance of these accused individuals and whether their status warranted stalling the sanction process for such a substantial period of time.
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On April 9, another division bench, led by Justice Debasgsu Basak, expressed its displeasure and directed the chief secretary to make a decision by April 23. The court refrained from issuing any further directions to the chief secretary, as a coordinate bench had already ordered the expeditious disposal of the application for sanction.
